Green Bay Athletics is hosting its first GB Gear-Up Game of the 2019-20 season this Friday (Sept. 6) as the women’s soccer team welcomes Northern State for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The first 400 UW-Green Bay students in attendance will receive a FREE 50th-anniversary t-shirt to celebrate classes being back in session and Phoenix athletics turning 50. Gates to Aldo Santaga Stadium, Green Bay Campus, open at 6 p.m. and students are encouraged to arrive early to ensure they receive the giveaway.

“The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is back in session, and that’s good news on the concert front,” says entertainment reporter Kendra Meinert. “The Good Times Programming student activities board has booked Young the Giant for a show at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Weidner Center. The group released its fourth studio album, last October and spent the summer touring with Fitz and the Tantrums.” See more via Young the Giant, Shaed to play concerts at UW-Green Bay.

Critic at large Warren Gerds highlights the arts scene this week including theatre performance and a preview: “In Green Bay, ‘Museum of Natural Inspiration: Artists Explore the Richter Collection’ will open Thursday, Sept. 5, in University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Lawton Gallery. In collaboration with the Richter Museum of Natural History at UWGB’s Cofrin Center for Biodiversity, the exhibition features artists who have created artwork inspired from the Richter’s collection of specimens. These specimens will be displayed alongside the artwork they have inspired in a true partnership of art and science. The opening reception is Thursday, Sept. 5, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Lawton Gallery Theatre Hall, (Room 230), and at a satellite location, Artless Bastard Gallery in De Pere, Wis. from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibit is part of a year-long celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Center for Biodiversity. The exhibition will run from to Oct. 3. Gallery hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All Lawton Gallery events are free and open to the public. The Lawton Gallery also announced the loan of the Andy Warhol screenprints to the River Arts Center, located on the Wisconsin River in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. Nine screenprints by Warhol, donated to UWGB in 2008 by the Andy Warhol Foundation, are on display to Nov. 22.” See more via Warren Gerds/Critic at Large: Week ahead: After a little lull, the fall theater season will heat up.

UW-Green Bay’s Theatre on the Bay (TOB) announces auditions for Craig Lucas’ comedy “Reckless.” Auditions will be held by appointment on the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Marinette Campus, Fine Arts Building, Room T133 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Performances are Nov. 15-17 and Nov. 22-24.

“Reckless” is about a woman named Rachel who finds herself running for her life when her husband puts a hit out on her on Christmas Eve. Taken in by kind-hearted Lloyd and his paraplegic wife Pooty, Rachel becomes an honorary member of a new family. She soon discovers that her new friends and new life are not what they seem. The Washington Post describes “Reckless” as “written with a twisted humor” and notes that “the play explores the personal crises of people and how they cope.” More via ehextra.com.

UW-Green Bay, Sheboygan Campus is offering classes to people who are looking to start a new business. The school’s Small Business Development Center joined forces with the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation, to bring the classes to the campus. The eight sessions will begin on Sept. 12, 2019 and will be held on Thursday evenings beginning at 5 p.m. More via Sheboygan Campus Offering Classes to Local Business Owners | Seehafer News.

Wisconsin state lawmakers were updated on the issue of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) Thursday at a public hearing for the Speaker’s Task Force on Water Quality held at UW-Green Bay, Marinette Campus. The most common exposure to PFAS is through ingestion, drinking and eating PFAS contaminated food and water. Eating plants and animals, such as fish, who drink or live in PFAS-contaminated water can also cause health problems. The task force is currently traveling across the state and holding public meetings in various municipalities. More via Legislators updated on PFAS | ehextra.com

During the last few weeks of August, Wisconsin saw a large amount of blue-green algae coming into bloom around the state. After a report of three healthy dogs in North Carolina dying minutes after swimming in a lake went viral online, the concern in Wisconsin grew quickly, as Lake Winnebago, Lake Mendota and other bodies of water were largely covered with it. Fortunately, according to Prof. Renee Richer (Biology), UW-Green Bay, Marinette Campus, the algae hasn’t expanded to our area yet, however she said it could in the future. See more via Blue-green algae not in area yet | ehextra.com.

Rising from the center of the circle driveway outside Cofrin Library, a new statue is quickly becoming the picture-perfect place. It is called “Phoenix Rising” and it was dedicated Wednesday afternoon. The statue cost about $40,000, according to Eric Arneson, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Climate at UW-Green Bay. The university and its student government split the cost. The plan is to also add lights, perhaps red, to give the statue an extra glow at night. More via Phoenix Rising” statue becomes picture-perfect place at UW-Green Bay | WLUK.